Slammer

Last week I was in Ft. Lauderdale. For those of you who don't know, Ft. Lauderdale has one of the most vibrant and eclectic gay communities in the country. If you go, I recommend that you first visit either "Rosie's" or "Georgie's Alibi", both located on Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. Both of these eating and drinking establishments (Georgie's is more of a bar, Rosie's is more of a restaurant) are filled with a broad array of gay people (mostly men, although Rosie's tends to have about 30% women). It's always party time at both places, the folks are extremely upbeat. What's really unusual, especially for someone from NYC, is that both places have really variegated crowds. You see young and old, gym bods, regular bods, and flabby bods, bears and pretty boys, white collar and blue collar, and the amazing thing is that every one seems to get along and respect each other.

That said, I must confess that in addition to visiting "Rosie's" and "Georgie's Alibi", my partner and I paid a visit to "Slammer Club" . Slammer opens at 8 pm and advertises that it stays "open till you're done". Another ad states something to the effect that you're guaranteed to "get off". The building is identifiable only by "321", written large on the rather stark building. An amenity is the fact that the parking lot is attended by a very friendly attendant who helps you find a spot. Once inside, you pay at a window, and you're offered a wallet and phone check. You can also rent a locker, but we were told that "most guys keep their clothes on". The attendant at the window was, of course, dressed in leather, mustache, chain jewelry, the works. Posters reminiscent of "Tom of Finland" decorate the lobby. Once inside, there is a bar that I imagine sells mixers (you seem to have to bring your own alcohol), and is tended by a bartender dressed in leather jockstrap which does not contain his huge cock, a requisite leather vest, combat boots, and chains.

The rest of the place is painted black and is very dimly lit. Despite the lighting, one can't help noticing the "hand sanitizer" dispensers placed throughout. The one area of warmth and light is a big fireplace that looks like something out of an old Vincent Price movie. The center of attraction is a raised platform with cage-like vertical bars as well as pieces of plywood that are cut out to allow those standing below to suck those standing on the platform. Big rooms and smaller rooms provide spaces for group and individual play.

So, was the place a turn-on? Yes and no. Raised in the 1950s, somewhere in my psyche there is still the notion that sex and especially sex with "other boys" is naughty. The idea of touching another boy's penis or having him touch me is dangerous, thrilling, and bad---and that idea gets me aroused. We have all been little once, and seeing erect penises, seeing whether they're bigger or smaller, thicker or thinner is a lot more than just interesting. Watching male asses as guys pump their cocks into other guys mouths is very hot. We're all being bad together. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn watching Jim's big dick as he goes for a swim, and touching each other. This is not love - this is rebellion. And rebellion is a turn on. You could get killed, but there's some sense of safety in numbers. So if we're all being bad together and we get caught, we can save ourselves.

But we can't. Despite the "hand sanitizer", places like Slammer are still breeders of disease. Many HIV positive men go to places like this because nobody's asking, and, in the bad boy frenzy, nobody cares. To its credit, Slammer provides plenty of condoms throughout the labyrinth, and people are using them for anal sex. But the down side is that all this bad behavior can get you into real bad trouble.

So, what did I do there? I watched, I got excited, I jerked off. I was always a cautious boy. Luckily.